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Good Friday Agreement

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 February 2022

Wednesday, 23 February 2022

Questions (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)

Neale Richmond

Question:

16. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Taoiseach when the shared island unit will hold its next dialogue. [7767/22]

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Bernard Durkan

Question:

17. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach the extent to which the vision of the shared island initiative can continue notwithstanding the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly given the particular need to ensure a sensitive and progressive debate in the circumstances that now prevail. [7801/22]

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Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

18. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the schedule of dialogues to be delivered by the shared island unit of his Department for 2022. [9276/22]

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Brendan Smith

Question:

19. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach when the shared island unit will hold its next dialogue. [9370/22]

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Seán Haughey

Question:

20. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Taoiseach when the shared island unit will hold its next dialogue. [9446/22]

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Ruairí Ó Murchú

Question:

21. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the shared island unit of his Department. [9470/22]

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Mick Barry

Question:

22. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the shared island unit will hold its next dialogue. [9693/22]

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Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

23. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the shared island unit will hold its next dialogue. [9701/22]

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Paul Murphy

Question:

24. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the shared island unit will hold its next dialogue. [9710/22]

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Oral answers (13 contributions)

I propose to take Question Nos. 16 to 24 together.

Through the Government's shared island initiative, we are working to engage with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future and to take up the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance co-operation on the island. Our objective is to work across the whole-of-government in all-island partnerships with the Executive, the United Kingdom Government and local authorities and civil society across the island.

The Government wants to see a fully-functioning Executive in place again as soon as possible, working for all of the people of Northern Ireland and working with us to deliver beneficial North-South co-operation and investment, which is a key dimension of our shared island approach. Last year, the Government allocated €50 million from our shared island fund to move ahead with significant cross-Border investments, including the Ulster Canal, the Narrow Water Bridge project and a major new North-South research programme. We also commenced an all-island strategic rail review with the Executive.

In October, the Government set out a comprehensive set of new shared island investment priorities, as part of the revised national development plan. This is backed by a total all-island commitment of more than €3.5 billion over the decade ahead, including €1 billion from the shared island fund, to invest for a more connected, sustainable and prosperous island for all. The Government also initiated the shared island dialogue series to hear from people across all communities, traditions and regions on how we can work for a shared future on this island in practical, meaningful ways.

In our approach, the Government is taking full account of the political complexity and challenges in Northern Ireland, and is working to listen to and engage with all communities and their concerns. We are fostering civic dialogue that is constructive, inclusive and focused on issues of shared concern for people across all traditions and communities, while also recognising challenges and different views.

In December, I launched a report by my Department on the first year of the dialogue series. It highlighted the views and suggestions raised across seven dialogue events which engaged more than 1,000 civic representatives and sets out how the Government is taking account of their contributions. A copy of the report has been sent to every Member of the Oireachtas. We are continuing the shared island dialogue series this year, moving now to in-person and regional engagements.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, participated in a dialogue on 20 January with more than 160 tourism stakeholders, from North and South, who discussed how to take up new opportunities in the sector on a shared island basis. The next shared island dialogue is on sport and takes place tomorrow, 24 February, at the national sports campus, with participation by Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Jack Chambers, and with in-person and online attendance by people involved in sport across the island.

At the outset, I extend my condolences and sympathies to the family of the former DUP MLA from Belfast, Christopher Stalford, on his untimely death over the weekend.

All of us in the House can agree that there is a gap regarding not just North-South relations but relations within Northern Ireland. It is a gap that the shared island dialogue has a great opportunity to fill. I ask the Taoiseach to outline whether there is an appetite to increase the ambition in this calendar year to fill that gap. I look forward to the dialogue on sport tomorrow. Providing a platform and voice for all communities across the island to engage, when there is a lack of desire from aspects of the political community to engage in this island, is key and can be achieved, coming as it is as both jurisdictions are moving out of Covid-19 restrictions. It is a great opportunity to be truly ambitious not just about the research documents but, crucially, the in-person events. I hope we can see the lost opportunities of the past two years replaced in the coming calendar year.

I too wish to record my sympathies to the wife and four children of Christopher Stalford, MLA, and his wider circle of friends, family and colleagues in the DUP.

The Taoiseach and his office have assumed an oversight role in the delivery of the third strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. What part will the shared island unit play in that work? The Tusla review of domestic violence accommodation very starkly demonstrates the absence of refuge places for victims and their children along the Border counties. We know anecdotally that services North and South support women who travel across the Border. For example, a victim in Buncrana may travel to Derry city for the purposes of anonymity and, worse still, because of the shame and stigma that still attaches for many in respect of the violence and abuse they endure. The inclusion of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in the shared island schedule of dialogue this year would be a constructive and useful piece of work.

I raised the Government's outstanding commitment to a referendum on presidential voting rights with the Taoiseach a couple of weeks ago. As he knows, there is cross-party support for voting rights to be extended to citizens living on our island beyond the State. When does the Taoiseach expect the Minister to bring the heads of Bills to Government for approval?

As the Taoiseach knows, the shared island initiative was launched in October 2020. The objective of the initiative is the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in order to develop enhanced links, co-operation and mutual understanding on the island of Ireland. In this regard, I welcome, in particular, the shared island dialogue. This has given a voice to many individuals, groups and organisations which can find it difficult to be heard amidst the ongoing arguments between the nationalist and unionist politicians debating the major constitutional issues of the day.

I hope that this dialogue can continue in the coming months, in the run-up to the Northern Ireland Assembly elections in May, so that the voice of civic society can be heard above all the noise associated with party political electioneering. The shared island initiative also involves working with the Northern Ireland Executive and the British Government to address the strategic challenges faced on the island. It seems to me that the British Government is preoccupied with other issues at this time and, of course, the Northern Ireland Executive has collapsed. Would the Taoiseach agree that the two Governments and all parties in Northern Ireland will have to make an enormous effort to get the Executive up and running after the May elections and that this challenge cannot be underestimated? The Northern Ireland protocol will have to be off the agenda by then.

I add my voice to the condolences on the tragic death of Christopher Stalford. I offer my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

The Taoiseach and I have had a number of interactions about citizens' assemblies. He knows where I stand and I know where he stands. He has stated that he does not believe there is sufficient depth in a citizens' assembly to deal with the issue of unity and what unity would look like. He has spoken about the shared island dialogue. In what way could the shared island dialogue be expanded to encompass what we would like to see in a citizens' assembly, which should allow all stakeholders to have a full conversation around Irish unity? It is already happening in the wider world anyway. When does the Taoiseach foresee us having a significant amount of the modelling work, following research being done with funding from the shared island unit, that could provide us with the tools to look at changes that could be operated within Departments and to provide a model of Irish unity?

I raise once more the closure of Regina Coeli House in Belfast, which is a vital resource for victims of domestic violence, among others. Today marks the completion of six weeks of strike and sit-in by Unite workers at the hostel demanding that the facility be handed over to the state and kept open. Has the Taoiseach raised this with members of the Northern Ireland Executive, as he promised he would? The Tusla proposal that women's refuge places in this State be increased by 50 or 60 in the short term is completely inadequate. This State is more than 300 spaces short of the Istanbul Convention target. We want to see a plan to reach that target far more quickly. I urge everyone on our shared island to march and protest next month to mark International Women's Day and to demand change on issues such as these.

In conclusion, with regard to the ten-strong, socially-distanced, solidarity stand-out organised in Limerick against femicide in 2021, I express the hope that charges against Aislinn O’Keeffe will be dropped before her court date this Friday. Apart from anything else, those charges bring disgrace on this State.

I apologise for being late. My question is to ask the extent to which the Taoiseach can develop the shared island concept at the same time as the partial collapse of the Assembly. Will he use the time to good advantage to establish trust, dialogue and a meaningful relationship with all who wish to have such a relationship in a shared island context?

I join with Deputies in expressing my deepest sympathies to the wife and family of Christopher Stalford who passed away at the weekend. On the Government's behalf, I conveyed our sympathies personally to Jeffrey Donaldson and the wish that they be conveyed to his family. All of us in public life know that politicians experience enormous pressures. Words will not console his family on this occasion, but our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Regarding the third strategy on domestic violence, there has already been shared dialogue involving women on the island. That led to the creation of an all-island women's forum. The shared island unit stands ready. We have said to various groups that if there are cross-Border projects that can be developed, we will allocate funding to those, provided they meet their basic objectives and thresholds. I would like to think that the all-island women's forum will be in a position to develop important initiatives in this area of domestic violence on a cross-Border, all-island basis. We and the unit are available to support that.

Deputy Richmond raised the continuation of the dialogue series. He referred to increasing the ambition and in-person events. No one has put blockages up in the political sphere. To address Deputy Ó Murchú's point, too, the whole shared island endeavour is without prejudice to one's constitutional position. That is why it has gained cross-community, cross-tradition participation in civic society. That has been quite significant. We have significant ambition. There are now opportunities for in-person engagement. There is a dialogue on sport tomorrow. There will be an online launch event in early March for the next ESRI shared island report, which examines primary healthcare systems on the island. We are also planning for an in-person launch event for the comprehensive report to Government by the National Economic and Social Council on shared island opportunities, following its consideration by Government. The shared island unit of my Department is also preparing further events as part of the shared island dialogue series, which will run throughout the year.

As everyone said, there is a welcome opportunity for greater in-person engagement in the dialogue series. We envisage that happening regionally too. The dialogue series issue is engaging with sectoral issues and how we deepen mutually beneficial co-operation on the island. There were two examples, with tourism and sport being addressed tomorrow. Wider societal concerns for the future of the island include culture and identity issues, and how we can better understand each other across diverse communities and traditions. In response to very welcome interest, members of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the relevant committee chairs and party spokespersons in both the Oireachtas and Northern Ireland Assembly are being invited to shared island dialogue events this year. I think that might deal with what Deputy Durkan said about the politics of it. I had this debate with Deputy Ó Murchú in respect of citizens' assemblies. It is my view that the dialogue series is the important way to go. The Good Friday Agreement has provisions regarding the constitutional position.

What about extension?

We need to fully work the Good Friday Agreement. That is why I regret the decision of the DUP to withdraw the First Minister from the Executive. Regarding Deputy Barry's point, the Executive is there to carry out existing work. I have not had a chance to talk to the First Minister or the Deputy First Minister about the issue that the Deputy raises. It is primarily a matter for the Northern Ireland authorities.

The Taoiseach has not raised it.

I have not had an opportunity yet, given the events that have happened. The Oireachtas does not interfere in the courts.

For the information of the House, I should point out that the distinguished gentleman sitting in front of the Chair, Mr. Brian Hickey, who has given exemplary and outstanding service to these Houses over many years, is sitting in the Chamber with us for the last time. He is due to retire tomorrow and I am sure all Members of the House join with me in wishing him and his family long years of health and happiness in the new phase of their lives.

Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar www.oireachtas.ie.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.
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